Wasp Nest Prevention

In some places, they deal with wasp problems year after year. Often, this means that the surrounding areas are conducive to the building of wasp nests. Woody or tree-filled areas are such places where it is more likely to find nests. If you find that you live in such an area or that you seem to have a recurring problem, the best way to alleviate the situation is to practice wasp nest prevention.

Understanding the Wasp Nest Cycle:

You may have noticed that your wasp problem tends to come around in the late spring or early to mid summer. This has to do with the way wasp colonies and nests are built. Colonies are started by young queens in the early spring. A queen begins the creation of the nest and then lay eggs in the nest's cells till she has enough female workers to continue building nests for her. Apart from continued nest building, workers look for food and feed the larvae. Now an interesting thing happens. The workers eat a sweet liquid substance that the larvae produce. For the first part or for most of the spring, the nest is quite self-sufficient.

Problems begin when the larvae mature. Worker wasps have to turn to other food sources. They look for sweets such as fruit or protein which they find in other insects. It is in this second stage that wasps tend to venture further out and possibly annoy nearby humans. By mid-summer the nest has usually grown and is the home of thousands of these hungry workers. In the late summer, males and young new queens are produced in the colony. These wasps fly away to mate and the young queens hide to hibernate for the winter. Young queens are the only wasps that survive the winter, all others including the foundation queen will die. At the end of hibernation, the young queen emerges in the spring and starts again.

Nest Prevention:

Now that you understand how nests are formed, you can proceed to preventing them from forming or by finding ways not to attract the wasps to your home.

First, remove any areas that are “nest worthy”. In the late winter, when spring seems to be coming around, scan your home and the nearby area for places that are “nest worthy.” These include fallen trees and trees with holes in them. Also, make sure you have no holes in any of your walls or any holes leading into your home, since wasps have been known to build nests inside human homes such as in attics, basements, etc. You can eliminate this possibility by making sure there are no entrances they can use. By removing these areas, you make sure that if any nests are built, they are built far away.

Second, make sure you dispose of all your food properly. Seal your dustbins well and don't leave any food lying around. If you have fruit trees on your property, dispose of fallen fruit quickly so as not to attract wasps.

Third, set up wasp traps around the perimeter of your property, and beyond. These attract the wasps away from your home and keep you relatively safe. Just remember to empty and clean out your traps every two weeks.

Finally, if you have an existing wasp nest nearby, be sure to remove the nest (see Basic Wasp Nest Removal) and kill the entire colony sometime in the early summer. This will ensure that you kill the wasps and that no new queen can escape.

Keep in mind that not all wasp nests will die during the winter. Some types of wasps are able to survive the cold. In these cases, wasp nest prevention is difficult. You will have to focus on wasp nest removal or finding a suitable wasp nest killer.